RTR Pre-Rel Guild Packs

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Tonight at midnight, many local gaming stores will be packed with rabbid Magic the Gathering players all wanting to get their paws on the new Return to Ravnica cards.  This particular PreRelease has many gamers excited as WotC has special Return to Ravnica PreRelease Guild packs instead of the traditional booster packs.  

There is also the possibility of scoring some sweet RTR swag in the form card boxes, card sleeves, lanyards, and playmats from the tournament organiser.  These very slick-looking prerelease boxes will contain;

• 5 Return to Ravnica booster packs• 1 Guild Booster Pack
• 1 Promo Card
• 1 Achievement Card
• 1 Spindown™ Life Counter
• 1 Letter from the Guildmaster
• 1 Guild Symbol Sticker

The Guild booster will have cards from that Guild or that colour;
• Foil Prerelease promo (you get to play in tourney)
• 1 Rare
• 3 Uncommons
• 11 Commons

If you want to get some practice / oreintation in ahead of the PreRelease event, check out the Mythic Spoiler site or Cam's sealed decktool.

Here's the eye-cand now from Forum user Coffee4am (aka Hobby-4am) who posted contents of all five Return to Ravnica PreRelease Guild pacts.  It appears that each guild pack may have a Guildgate, which replaces the basic land with the other remaining randomised cards sharing that guild's colour and / or with that guild's watermark.  Here's a closer look -
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Azorius 

Selesnya
 

Golgar
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Izzet
 

Rakdos 

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Spell Thief No. 3

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Happy Thursday MTG Peeps,

We hope you've made arrangements /called ahead to your local gaming store to reserve your spot and your Guild pack at this weekend's Return to Ravnica PreRelease.  We've already got a spot waiting for us at OMG! Games in Barrie, Ontario for Sunday (we couldn't make it to the Friday midnight or any of the Saturday times unfortunately).  If you are new to Barrie and near Georgian College, drop in and game.

This evening we dropped by 'Big B Comics', the local Comic shop around the corner from us and picked up the latest Magic: The Gathering Comics from IDW, so we wanted to share . . .
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IDW Comic Book - Magic: The Gathering — The Spell Thief #3
Matt Forbeck (w) • Martín Cóccolo (a) • Matt Stewart (c)
Leaving his home plane behind, Dack Fayden returns to Innistrad, still in pursuit of the villainous Sifa Grent. He convenes with the Reichert family again, who provide Dack with crucial information on the evil Planewalker’s location. But when Sorin Markov arrives, looking for Dack, things quickly escalate and our hero finds himself in a situation where he may not come out alive…
FC • 32 pages • $4.99

MTG / IDW Promo Card
Standstill, 1u
Enchantment
When a player casts a spell, sacrifice Standstill. If you do, each of that player’s opponents draws three cards.
“You learn a lot in no time when you’re about to get your neck snapped.”
- Dack Fayden

Standstill saw original printing as an Odyssey Uncommon.

Rulings (10.04.2004) - It only works once. If someone casts another spell after it triggers, but before that trigger resolves, then it will trigger again. The first time one of these triggers resolves, it will be sacrificed for the full effect. Any additional triggers on the stack will do nothing when they resolve because you will be unable to sacrifice it additional times.

Note from ratchet1215 (1/21/2011 10:52:45 AM) - Standstill is sacrificed on the RESOLUTION of the triggered ability, not when the ability goes on the stack. Only when the ability that draws you three cards resolves will Standstill cause itself to sacrifice. Stifle, Trickbind, or Voidslime would counter not only the card draw but also the sacrifice of Standstill. Of course, playing any one of those ability counterspells just causes another instance of Standstill's triggered ability to be put on the stack on top of it, so the point is moot.
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RTR FAQ

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

The newest Magic the Gathering set, Return to Ravnica will be hitting game tables around the world shortly after midnight this Friday 28th September and officially launched the next weekend (5th October, 2012).  With the new set, there are always questions to be had.  To this end, we here at MTG Realm want to bring to your attention, the Return to Ravnica Frequently Asked Questions (linky here) documents which, if reviewed, should make your PreRelease play more effecient and more enjoyable.  Speaking of the PreRelease, if you do not know where you can go to game, click on over to locator.wizards.com to find a store near you.  Also make sure to peruse the selection of Return to Ravnica english / chinese singles, foils and sets at MTG Mint Card.

Anywhoos - onto the FAQs . . .

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Cycle: Guildgates
The Return to Ravnica set introduces a new land subtype: Gate. Each guild has a Gate card with Guildgate in its name that taps for mana of either of that guild’s colors.  Gate is not a basic land type.

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Cycle: Keyrunes
Each guild has a Keyrune, an artifact that taps for mana of either of that guild’s colors and can become a creature.  Until the ability that turns the Keyrune into a creature resolves, the Keyrune is colorless.

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Cycle: Cards that “Can’t Be Countered”
The Return to Ravnica set includes a cycle of cards that can’t be countered.  Each of these rare multicolored spells with the ability to not be (conventionally) countered. A spell that can’t be countered by spells or abilities can be targeted by spells and abilities that try to counter it.

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Returning Themes: Guilds and Guildmarks
If a card in the Return to Ravnica set is associated with a guild, it features the appropriate guildmark in the background of its text box. These guildmarks have no effect on game play.

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Returning Mechanic: Hybrid Cards
These are cards with Hybrid mana costs.  Each hybrid mana symbol represents a cost which can be paid with one of two colors. The hybrid mana symbol can be of any combination of two colors, or any color of mana and two generic mana.

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Returning Cycle: Ravnica “Dual Lands”
There are five nonbasic lands in the Return to Ravnica set that each have two basic land types - Blood Crypt (b/r), Hallowed Fountain (w/), Overgrown Tomb (b/g), Steam Vents (u/r), and Temple Garden (g/w).

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Azorius Keyword Action: Detain
Reminder text on these cards are 'Until your next turn, that creature can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.'  Activated abilities include a colon and are written in the form “[cost]: [effect].  If a creature is already attacking or blocking when it’s detained, it won’t be removed from combat.  If a noncreature permanent is detained and later turns into a creature, it won’t be able to attack or block.

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Izzet Keyword: Overload
Reminder text here is 'You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of “target” with “each.”.  If you don’t pay the overload cost of a spell, that spell will have a single target. If you do pay the overload cost, the spell won’t be 'targetting' meaning it can get around 'hexproof' critters (can't be the target of spells and abilities).

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Rakdos Keyword: Unleash
These cards will have the text 'You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can’t block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.'  You make the choice to have the creature with unleash enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter or not as it’s entering the battlefield. At that point, it’s too late for a player to respond to the creature spell by trying to counter it, for example.  Putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature with unleash that’s already blocking won’t remove it from combat. It will continue to block.

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Golgari Keyword: Scavenge
These will have text with 'Scavenge (Cost ?) - (Cost ?, Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to this card’s power on target creature. Scavenge only as a sorcery.)'.  Somewhat similar to the flashback mechanic.

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Selesnya Keyword Action: Populate
The reminder text will be 'Put a token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of a creature token you control.'.  You can choose any creature token you control. If a spell or ability puts a token onto the battlefield under your control and then instructs you to populate (as Coursers’ Accord does), you may choose to copy the token you just created, or you may choose to copy another creature token you control.  If you control no creature tokens when instructed to populate, you won’t put a token onto the battlefield.
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Also - there is a large section with card specific rules / notes / explanations within the document, look here to find a card which you may have questions about.

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RTR Intro Pack Decklists

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps, 

Today, over on the mothership, WotC Monty provided decklists for the Return to Ravnica Intro Packs.  Smart Magic the Gathering players may review the lists here to help evaluate which Guild to play during the prerelease - at the moment, we here at MTG Realm are sort of torn between three Guilds and we really need to decide quickly.  

Anywhoos - the Intro Packs are a great (and inexpensive) way to get your head into this set and will help newer players get primed for gaming in this block.  With a MRSP of $15, you get
•  1 premium card,
•  1 60-card deck,
•  2 Return to Ravnica booster packs,
•  1 learn-to-play insert,
•  1 strategy insert

Your Intro Pack price will varry, but at OMG! Games here in Barrie, the price is a very nice $17.99 and tax.  Righto - onto the decklists !  
There are 2 rares in each pack - these are denoted with "*".
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Azorius Advance - u/w
Foil Rare - Archon of the Triumvirate.  Some believe the Azorius Senate only prevents things from happening. Prove them wrong with the "Azorius Advance" deck. While the detain ability locks up their defenses, your flying creatures will lay down the law.

25 lands : 1  Azorius Guildgate, 12  Island, 12  Plains

23 creatures : 1  Archon of the Triumvirate*, 2  Azorius Arrester, 1  Azorius Justiciar, 2  Battleflight Eagle, 2  Bazaar Krovod, 2  Concordia Pegasus, 1  Lyev Skyknight, 1  New Prahv Guildmage, 3  Silvercoat Lion, 1  Skyline Predator, 1  Soulsworn Spirit, 2  Stealer of Secrets, 2  Trained Caracal, 2  Vassal Soul

12 other spells : 1  Angel's Mercy, 2  Arrest, 2  Azorius Keyrune, 1  Dramatic Rescue, 1  Inaction Injunction, 1  Righteous Authority*, 2  Show of Valor, 1  Swift Justice, 1  Tablet of the Guilds

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Izzet Ingenuity - u/r
Foil Rare - Hypersonic Dragon.  The mages of the Izzet League run hot and cold— and sometimes both at once. The "Izzet Ingenuity" deck uses that tendency to your advantage. Bide your time, then unleash a blazing flurry of spells to take opponents off guard.

25 lands : 2  Island, 1  Izzet Guildgate, 12  Mountain

16 creatures : 2  Blistercoil Weird, 3  Cobblebrute, 2  Goblin Electromancer, 2  Guttersnipe, 1  Hypersonic Dragon*, 1  Nivix Guildmage, 3  Runewing, 1  Tenement Crasher, 1  Welkin Tern

19 other spells : 2  Annihilating Fire, 1  Blustersquall, 1  Chandra's Fury, 1  Downsize, 2  Electrickery, 1  Explosive Impact, 2  Goblin Rally, 2  Izzet Keyrune, 2  Krenko's Command, 1  Mizzium Mortars*, 1  Pursuit of Flight, 1  Teleportal, 1  Thoughtflare, 1  Wild Guess
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Rakdos Raid - b/r
Foil Rare - Carnival Hellsteed. The Cult of Rakdos has a flair for sadistic entertainment. Bring pain to all with the "Rakdos Raid" deck. While your unleashed creatures put the hurt on opponents, use the distraction to play a few well-placed dirty tricks.

25 lands : 12  Mountain, 1  Rakdos Guildgate, 12  Swamp

23 creatures : 1  Bellows Lizard, 1  Bloodfray Giant, 2  Canyon Minotaur, 1  Carnival Hellsteed*, 1  Cryptborn Horror*, 2  Gore-House Chainwalker, 1  Hellhole Flailer, 1  Minotaur Aggressor, 2  Rakdos Cackler, 2  Rakdos Shred-Freak, 1  Ravenous Rats, 1  Rix Maadi Guildmage, 1  Sewer Shambler, 1  Spawn of Rix Maadi, 3  Tormented Soul, 2  Zombie Goliath

12 other spells : 1  Assassin’s Strike, 1  Auger Spree, 1  Blood Reckoning, 1  Cower in Fear, 2  Crippling Blight, 1  Deviant Glee, 1  Mind Rot, 2  Rakdos Keyrune, 1  Shrieking Affliction, 1  Traitorous Instinct
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Golgari Growth - b/g
Foil Rare - Corpsejack Menace. The Golgari Swarm knows that the circle of life is a vicious one. The "Golgari Growth" deck puts the power of the scavenge ability in your hands, enabling your fallen creatures to strengthen their successors. Waste not, want not.

25 lands : 12  Forest, 1  Golgari Guildgate, 12  Swamp

24 creatures : 1  Acidic Slime, 1  Corpsejack Menace*, 2  Daggerdrome Imp, 1  Dreg Mangler, 2  Drudge Beetle, 1  Gobbling Ooze, 2  Golgari Longlegs, 1  Korozda Guildmage, 2  Korozda Monitor, 2  Slitherhead, 1  Sluiceway Scorpion, 1  Slum Reaper, 1  Stonefare Crocodile, 1  Terrus Wurm, 1  Veilborn Ghoul, 3  Walking Corpse, 1  Wild Beastmaster*

11 other spells : 1  Aerial Predation, 1  Disentomb, 2  Golgari Keyrune, 1  Grisly Salvage, 2  Launch Party, 1  Murder, 1  Rites of Reaping, 1  Serpent's Gift, 1  Treasured Find

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Selesnya Surge - g/w
Grove of the Guardian. The Selesnya Conclave relentlessly seeks to grow its ranks—both outward and upward. Use the populate ability to multiply your largest token creatures, then go forth and spread the good word. Grow big or go home! 

25 lands : 12  Forest, 1  Grove of the Guardian*, 11  Plains, 1  Selesnya Guildgate

17 creatures : 1  Arbor Elf, 1  Axebane Stag, 1  Brushstrider, 3  Centaur Courser, 1  Centaur Healer, 2  Centaur’s Herald, 1  Healer of the Pride, 1  Phantom General, 1  Risen Sanctuary, 3  Seller of Songbirds, 1  Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, 1  Wayfaring Temple*

18 other spells : 2  Bountiful Harvest, 2  Call of the Conclave, 2  Chorus of Might, 1  Coursers’ Accord, 1  Druid’s Deliverance, 2  Eyes in the Skies, 1  Heroes’ Reunion, 1  Rootborn Defenses, 2  Savage Surge, 2  Selesnya Keyrune, 2  Trostani’s Judgment

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Pick up singles for any of these Return to Ravnica Intropacks at MTG Mint Card to put a more agressive or competetive profile to your build.
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Return to Ravnica PreRel Prep

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We thought this day would never come and finally, here it is - the Return to Ravnica PreRelease event is this weekend - Saturday / Sunday 29th / 30th September.  We've been talking to a few Magic the Gathering players who want to attend all the flights in order to play all the five Guilds featured in Return to Ravnica - Azorius, Selesnya, Golgari, Izzet and Rakdos, in order to score each of the special prerelease Guild packs.

Anywhoos - Make sure you check ahead at your local gaming store, as most are taking preregistration and reserving your Guild of choice.  As for us, we'll be at OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario to participate in at least one prerelease event (but hopefully two).  We expect several new players to drop in as well from this year's new batch of Geogian College Frosh (across the road from OMG! Games).

We've talked to Rick, the owner who indicates that many players are already preregistered now to reserve their guild pack for one of the six events being held over the weekend.  Here are the times . . .

Return to Ravnica Pre-Release Date & Times 

Saturday Sept 29th : 12:00am(Friday Midnight), 10:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 7:00 pm    
 
Sunday Sept 30th : 11:00am and 4:00pm (Two-Headed Giant)
Format

For the regular events, the format is Sealed Deck - Each player receives one Return to Ravnica Guild Prerelease Pack to use for building a deck, and for the special Two-Headed Giant even on Sunday, each team of two players receives two Return to Ravnica Guild Prerelease Packs to use for building their decks. (one Guild Prerelease Pack per player)

If you missed our earlier post on what's in each Guild Prerelease Pack, here again are the contents -
• 5 Return to Ravnica booster packs
• 1 Guild Booster Pack
• 1 Promo Card
• 1 Achievement Card
• 1 Spindown™ Life Counter
• 1 Letter from the Guildmaster
• 1 Guild Symbol Sticker

For the PreRelease event, players may use the promo card included with the Guild Prerelease Pack in their tournament deck.

As for the Cost, it will be $35 For all regular sealed events, and $60 Two Headed Giant ($30/player).  If you are a hardcore Magic the Gathering player wanting to maximise your Return to Ravnica prerelease experience, for $150, you can play in any 5 events with the guild pack of your choice reserved for each event.

And here is the breakdown for the Prizes to be had -
4-0 record recieve 14 packs Return to Ravnica
3-0-1 record recieve 10 packs Return to Ravnica
3-1 record recieve 6 packs Return to Ravnica
If you win against OMG! Games Onwers Rick and Josh, you can score an additional 2 prize packs.  Additional Prizes given out based on attendance and may even include Guild Prerelease packs.
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Last Friday at FNM, we talked to a few players who had some questions as to exactly what was in the Guild Booster Pack.  Basically, this booster pack should be able to get your chosen Guild off to a good start and will only contain cards from your guild or from your guild's colors.  

The Guild booster will have;
• Foil Prerelease promo
• 1 Rare
• 3 Uncommons
• 11 Commons

In today's article on the mothersite, For that rare slot, there is only one mythic rare you might open: your guild's leader. You won't open Jace, Architect of Thought or Vraska the Unseen. 

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Tumblr Thursday

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As it is Friday, we suggest you take your fav standard constructed deck (you know - the ones with all those Scars of Mirrodin block cards in 'em), and take it for another spin at Friday Night Magic before they rotate out when Return to Ravnica releases in another two weeks from now.  We'll be truck'n out to OMG! Games (near Georgian College) in Barrie's north end to knock the dust off our R/W Tempered Steel build just one more time.

Anywhoos - onto today's post - As you may know, we try to republish every Thursday, content from our sister site - MTG Realm on Tumblr.  Of course this comes a day late (as we covered off the B 'n' R List Updates yesterday), so let's get to it now . . .

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Photo

September 20, 2012

27 notes

Massive Magic: the Gathering Menger cube
… or clever Cat / Borg cube vessel ?
by kerbythepurplecow

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NOTE - All the high-res guild crests are posted to our Tumblr page, not just the ones shown below.

Photoset

September 20, 2012

74 notes

 

High-res Return to Ravnica Guild Posters
by Scott Seligman

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Photoset

September 20, 2012

100 notes

High-res Return to Ravnica Guild Posters

by Scott Seligman

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Photo

September 20, 2012

27 notes

Massive Magic: the Gathering Menger cube
… or clever Cat / Borg cube vessel ?
by kerbythepurplecow

Tags: MtG magic the gathering borg cat

Photoset

September 20, 2012

74 notes

High-res Return to Ravnica Guild Posters

by Scott Seligman

Tags: MtG magic the gathering return to Ravnica

Photoset

September 20, 2012

100 notes

High-res Return to Ravnica Guild Posters

by Scott Seligman

Tags: MtG magic the gathering return to Ravnica

Photo

September 19, 2012

9 notes

Return to Ravnica - Magic the Gathering token generators -

3/3 green Centaur Critter Tokens :
• Call of the Conclave
• Centaur’s Herald
• Coursers’ Accord
• Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage

All of the other tokens and their generators HERE.

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Photo

September 18, 2012

3 notes

I would like to go somewhere Golgari after Return to Ravnica is released.  Preferably with Corpsejack Menace, Predator Ooze, and Primordial Hydra.
• Provide some input here on on the MTG Realm blog where I’ve yattered a bit more about this direction.
• Final build needs a pimp’n name too.

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Photo

September 18, 2012

20 notes

Another Magic the Gathering - Return to Ravnica Spoiler …
To Dragons, most armored knights must seem like canned food.
Got any Dragon joks anybody, I’m dry here.

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Photo

September 17, 2012

80 notes

I’m always impressed with the high quality of art Wwizards uses, especially for each sets lands. These Return to Ravnica lands just simply rock.
(Source: doran-thesiegetower)

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